History Main / DifficultyByRegion

* ''VideoGame/BionicCommando'' - The export version lets players keep their current weapon between stage, whereas the Japanese version (''Top Secret'') reverts it to the default gun. Additionally, the helicopters in the export versions are lesser in number, drop fewer bombs, and will eventually stop chasing you if you avoid them for long enough.

This phenomenon also manifests in a in a relatively unique way in online games - Lag. One's location in the world means different access to internet services, internet speeds, and proximity to dedicated servers. This can even manifest ''within'' the country as well - someone who lives in a rural or suburban area with fewer internet options (and needing wireless internet) will have much lower ping than someone who lives in a city just less than a few hundred kilometres away.

* ''VideoGame/KidIcarus'' made a few changes to the [[UnexpectedShmupLevel last level]] in the American version: the screen scrolls automatically rather than based on the player's movement, you no longer have to hold the Jump button to fly, you can fly through the bricks and pillars, and enemy patterns have been changed. These differences make the American version a little easier.

* ''VideoGame/{{Gradius}}'' features more aggressive enemies in the overseas version (''Nemesis''). To make up for the increased difficulty, the game throws the player a fleet of red enemies every time he loses a ship, allowing the player to refill his ship's power-up gauge.

* ''Gradius III'', in the "Asia" and "World" arcade versions, had the full length "technical course" of the Japanese version with the difficulty of the "beginner" mode. The UsefulNotes/PlayStation2 port used the Japanese arcade difficulties in all regions, but added an EasierThanEasy (though still NintendoHard) setting in the options.

* ''VideoGame/RayStorm'''s UsefulNotes/PlayStation port, published by Working Designs (mentioned below), had its already NintendoHard difficulty jacked up for the American release, with its Normal setting being equivalent to the Japanese [[HarderThanHard Very Hard]] setting, and [[EasyModeMockery setting the difficulty lower only allows you to play the first half of the game]].

** The Hangman's Gambit minigame had to switch out the hiragana characters for Latin letters. Not a problem in [[VisualNovel/DanganronpaTriggerHappyHavoc the first game]] where the localization team was able to simplify the answers. The "Improved" Hangman's Gambit from ''VisualNovel/Danganronpa2GoodbyeDespair'', on the other hand, fundamentally changed the way the characters fly across the screen by having them lower influence (AKA HitPoints) if they crash into each other (instead of floating harmlessly off-screen like the did before). Since this was impossible to change, the UpdatedRerelease on the UsefulNotes/PlayStationVita (the first version released in English) ended up with literal translations that force the player to spell out every word of the final answer (roughly 4 hiragana characters as opposed to 10 letters in one case).

* Working Designs had a habit of tinkering with their localized titles' difficult for North American releases. In the Sega CD and UsefulNotes/PlayStation versions of ''VideoGame/LunarTheSilverStar'', for instance, WD added the ability to die after the final bosses without use of certain items, and in the latter system's version, enemies and bosses scale with the player's levels. The North American version of ''VideoGame/LunarEternalBlue'' on the Sega CD also had a cost of skill points for saving the game that scaled with Hiro's levels.

* ''VideoGame/MegaMan X7'''s North American version reduces the attack power of the player characters.

This phenomenon also manifests in a in a relatively unique way in online games - Lag. One's location in the world means different access to internet services, internet speeds, and proximity to dedicated servers. This can even manifest ''within'' the country as well - someone who lives in a rural or suburban area with fewer inernet options (and needing wireless internet) will have much lower ping than someone who lives in a city just less than a few hundred kilometres away.

* In the Japanese version of ''VideoGame/Gimmick1992'', you start with four lives; in the European version, you start with eight lives. Additionally, it takes [[EveryTenThousandPoints 20,000 points to earn an extra life]] in the Japanese version, while it takes 25,000 to earn a life in the European version.[[note]] These changes have the side effect of making the secret Stage 7 and the GoldenEnding easier to get, as one of its two prerequisites is beating the first six stages without using a single continue.[[/note]]

* ''{{VideoGame/Contra}} III: The Alien Wars'' had a couple of cheat codes in the Japanese version ''Contra Spirits'' (namely a [[KonamiCode thirty-lives code]] and a stage select) that were removed from the overseas releases. Moreover, the Japanese version has infinite continues while the overseas versions limit them based on the difficulty[[note]]2 for Easy, 4 for Normal/Hard[[/note]], and allows the player to fight the TrueFinalBoss on Normal, whereas the overseas versions only allow it on Hard.

* The Japanese release of ''VideoGame/{{Bug}}'' has more starting lives (5 as opposed to 3), adds additional checkpoints, has more hitpoints, gives more ammo for the zapper and spit power-ups, removes the mechanic of [[SaveGameLimits being only able to continue your save games for a limited amount of times]] and tweaks some enemy behaviors to make them less aggressive.

** ''[[VideoGame/PokemonGoldAndSilver Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver]]'', due to European ratings board aggression against any reference to gambling, did ''not'' feature the original Game Corner in international releases. Instead, said releases got a game that is best described as "minesweeper + sudoku + (noticeably less) LuckBasedMission". While attempting to earn prizes early would be a pain if you could actually lose money, it is instead fairly easy to get Dratini[[note]]a DiscOneNuke that comes with Dragon Rage, which always deals 40 HP of damage at a point in the game when nothing has that much, and Thunder Wave, which gives the opponent a 1/4th chance of not being able to act and always reduces their Speed to 25%, almost always making them act last and ''stays'' strong by turning into something with a higher stats total than many legendaries. Making it worse is that you can easily save scum this one so it is of Adamant nature, boosting its already high Attack while lowering the Special Attack you won't use.[[/note]] when you can't.

* ''Super Double Dragon'' has three selectable difficulty settings (Easy, Normal and Hard) in the Japanese version, ''Return of Double Dragon'', whereas the American version doesn't have any. However, the difficulty of the American version is harder than the hardest setting of the Japanese version. Enemies have more health and weapons such as incendiary bombs and knives are more lethal. The American version also recycles boss characters more often and some of the added moves in the Japanese version, like the multi-hit Hurricane Kick and the ability to catch your boomerangs or exchange weapons on the ground, were not implemented yet in the American version. On the other hand, the Japanese version is slightly longer, with two extra areas added to the final stage, and the bosses of Mission 3, the Chen brothers, are fought as a DualBoss rather than one at a time as in the overseas version.

* ''VideoGame/RocketKnightAdventures'' has the same four difficulties in all versions, but the names are different: the Japanese version has "Normal", "Hard", [[HarderThanHard "Very Hard", and "Crazy Hard".]] In the European version, "Normal" was renamed "Easy". And in the North American version, the same difficulties were called "Children", "Easy", "Normal", and "Hard". Notably, in the other versions, Very Hard and Crazy Hard require codes to unlock, but in the American version, all four difficulties are immediately selectable.
** Additionally, in the American and European versions, if you play on the lowest difficulty, you will skip the final boss fight and [[EasyModeMockery get a message that this is not the true ending]]. The final boss fight happens on every difficulty in the Japanese version.

* ''VideoGame/MagicKnightRayearth'', being localized by Working Designs, was made much more difficult in its American release by both giving enemies far more health and also making them move faster.

* ''VideoGame/{{Exile}}'' was panned for being "too hard" in Japan, so Creator/WorkingDesigns tried toning it down a little... making the game a cakewalk in the process. The reverse happened with its sequel, where it was basically made pretty close to {{unwinnable}}.

* The international versions of ''VideoGame/ChocoboRacing'' feature a significantly higher amount of guardrails on the Fantasia track.
* ''VideoGame/CrashBandicoot1996'' made the first boss harder in the Japanese version (five hit points instead of three and he attacks faster as he takes damage) and removed the password system (and in this game, you could only save after completing a bonus round or getting a gem), but it also shortened a level, switched two levels around to smooth out the difficulty curve, and added hints from Aku Aku (the hints are also in the Japanese versions of the sequels).
** The European/Australian version slowed down Ripper Roo but removed a checkpoint from The Lab.
* ''VideoGame/CrashBandicoot2CortexStrikesBack'' widened the radius of the Belly Flop, slowed down the shield enemies, and made it easier to clear Turtle Woods without breaking any crates (which is required for the Blue Gem) in the European/Australian version, but if you die on a Death Route, you don't get a second chance.
* In the European/Australian version of ''Videogame/CrashBandicoot3Warped'' the power you get for beating the final boss (which enables Crash to run faster) is more effective than in the American version, making the timed goals easier. However, the target times for one of the time trials (on which you can't use that power) were revised. Besides that, a developer oversight in the two hidden levels gave them the same relic times as their entrance levels in the American version, which was amended in the European/Australian version. Enemies were changed as well: wizards have an extra hit point, robots fire an extra missile, and several attack faster. Additionally, [[AntiFrustrationFeatures dying repeatedly on a level]] will eventually give you two Aku Aku masks in the American version, but never more than one in the European/Australian version, and the differing Death Route mechanics from the last game also apply.
** Compared to the American version, the [[PowerupMount Pura]] levels had more enemies added in the European/Australian version and some enemies removed in the Japanese version.
* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'' received many changes in the international releases that the Japanese would not see until the ''[[UpdatedRerelease International]]'' version:
** One required boss, Diamond Weapon, and two [[OptionalBoss optional]] {{Superboss}}es, Ruby Weapon and Emerald Weapon, were added.
** Some areas had the rate of RandomEncounters reduced, or in the case of Sector 8 in Midgar and the entrance to Holzoff's Cabin in Gaea's Cliff, random encounters were removed entirely. [[BravingTheBlizzard Keeping your body temperature up]] on Gaea's Cliff was also made easier.
** The [[ThatOnePuzzle clock puzzle]] in the Temple of the Ancients was simplified. In the Japanese version, the puzzle was much more complicated, and [[MercyMode failing it three times would unlock an easier version]]. The international versions make it so that the easier version of the puzzle is the default one.
** [[FinalBoss Safer Sephiroth]], on the other hand, was made significantly easier in the American version. In the Japanese version, his ultimate attack Supernova is ''not'' a PercentDamageAttack that inflicts negative status effects like it is in the international releases, so it ''can'' kill you, [[ThatOneAttack and quite easily at that.]]
* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIII'' makes Guardian Forces drawable in every boss encounter in the final level in case you missed any the first time around, but missing these the second time around makes them {{Permanently Missable|Content}}. The Japanese version did not give players a second chance in drawing a Guardian Force in the final level.

* ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil'' has an auto-aiming function in the Japanese version, as well as more ink ribbons and ammo available. The developers thought of furthering the difficulty in the export versions by making storage boxes not linked, meaning that items that were stored in one location couldn't be retrieved in another. While this was only implemented in review copies and not in the retail version, the idea was brought back to the "[[HarderThanHard Real Survivor]]" mode featured in the [=GameCube=] version.
* In the American version of ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil2'', some of the item and enemy placements are different from the Japanese release. The American version's difficulty setting is featured as an extra mode in the Dual Shock-compatible re-release of ''Biohazard 2''.

* ''VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance'' removed the HarderThanHard Maniac mode and replaced it with an Easy mode in the American version. Then again, the [[GoodBadBugs 255% crit chance forge bug]] was removed, and the typical CriticalHitClass like Swordmaster, Berserkers, and Snipers getting their critical hit boost back that was absent in the original Japanese version.

* The Japanese release of ''VideoGame/{{Bug}}!'' has more starting lives (5 as opposed to 3), adds additional checkpoints, has more hitpoints, gives more ammo for the zapper and spit power-ups, removes the mechanic of [[SaveGameLimits being only able to continue your save games for a limited amount of times]] and tweaks some enemy behaviors to make them less aggressive.

* The North American version of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIIRevenantWings'' was made harder than its Japanese counterpart.

** Minor example in ''VideoGame/PokemonBlackAndWhite'': Poison Touch has a 30% chance to poison the target with a contact move in the international versions, but it's '''2'''0% in Japan. If a Japanese copy of the game is in a Link Battle with a non-Japanese copy, Poison Touch's probability of activation is determined by game of the player with the Pokémon possessing the Ability. Thus, non-Japanese players are more advantageous when using a Pokémon with Poison Touch. However, the percentage has since been buffed to 30% across all languages starting in ''VideoGame/PokemonXAndY''.